The Secret Battle
by liquidlights
Summary: Two years after the 4th Ninja War, Sakura Haruno sets out for an S-rank mission. She had believed that Naruto and Sasuke were dead, until her mission proves her wrong. She discovers that Naruto had been on a secret mission, and something terrible is happening to Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura team up once again to find out if they can save their old teammate. SasuxSaku
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: _I do not own Naruto or any of its characters!_

It was one of those beautiful days in Konoha. The sun was just rising, golden rays of light filtering through the dark green line of trees behind Sakura Haruno's flat. Birds were chirping away happily as a cool morning breeze rustled their feathers. Sakura sat up in her bed and gazed out of her window, her expression slowly changing from serene to thoughtful. She glanced at the clock that sat on her bedside table. It was ten minutes past seven. Her eyes widened.

"Shit! I slept late." She cursed as she threw away the covers and jumped out of her bed.

Half an hour later, she was dashing through the streets of Konoha, heading for the Hokage's office. Was she too late? She thought back to last night. She had been so excited that sleep just refused to come, till the sky started to pale.. As she ran up the steps to the office three at a time, she collided with someone who was coming down as fast, and both fell down cursing.

"Shikhamaru! Where the hell were you looking?" Sakura yelled at the ninja who lay sprawled on the steps.

"I could ask you the same! What's the hurry?" Shikhamaru raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Aah... The Hokage asked me to come really early today. He said he had an S-rank mission for me!" Sakura replied excitedly, getting up on her feet.

"Oh.. Is that so? Well.. Stay safe, I guess.." Shikhamaru shrugged. Was it worry she was seeing on his face?

"Hey! Don't tell me you are worried, now." Sakura frowned at him.

"Well.. I had given this word to Naruto.." Shikhamaru said quietly, turning his head away so he wouldn't have to look her in the eyes.

Sakura sighed. She didn't want to think about them now. It was painful even to hear their names..

"I won't die that easily." She tried to grin, but failed. Knowing she won't be able to bear any more of this conversation, she abruptly turned and left for the Hokage's office.

Once she was before the door, she knocked gently.

"Come in!" The voice of a man called.

She opened the door and entered into the office. Everything about the office was same as when Tsunade-sama was the Hokage, except for her photo now framed along with the other four Hokages before her. She gazed steadily at the man before her and bowed a little.

"Sakura.. You are feeling alright?" Obito asked. "You look a bit pale."

"Uh.. Yeah. I'm fine." Sakura lied, smiling a little, earning a sigh from Obito. To her relief, he did not say anything further about it.

"Right. Then we will get straight to the point. As you know, we have gathered intel that there are some offensive elements associating in the village of Hidden Grass, with the main objective of jeopardizing the unity of Alliance. You are to go there under the pretense of a civilian doctor. You will have to dye your hair something else so it won't stand out. Your main objective is to deliver this message to our spy in a pre-arranged meeting place without blowing either of your covers." He handed her a scroll, tied neatly with a small red ribbon. "He will be around your age, and you will know his identity as soon as he speaks."

"How can I be sure that I recognize him? Have I seen him before?" Sakura asked, confused.

"That, I cannot say right now. But you will know, I assure you." Obito smiled at her mysteriously. "After he gets your message, he will take you to a place where you will stay until he returns with a man. That man is to be brought back here alive, along with the spy. We need that man for further interrogation."

"Um.. I know this is not my place to say this.. But.. I'm a medic.. If you want to bring a dangerous prisoner back, wouldn't it be better to send of a combat person, you know, like Lee-san or Tenten?"

"It would have been better, except.. there are some things only you can do, Sakura. Don't ask me why. You will know it soon yourself. Now hurry up and get out of here. The details of the mission are in this scroll." He gave her another scroll, this one tied with a green ribbon. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other works to do." Obito ordered her jokingly, waving her off.

As soon as she was about to leave, Obito glanced at her again. "Sakura, don't forget to bring back our spy, whatever it takes." His words were casual, but his eyes betrayed his tone. Something about the spy was important, she knew.

It was close to noon when she left the gates of Konoha. Her hair was dyed dark brown and was pulled up in a ponytail. Instead of her jounin uniform, she was wearing grey T-shirt and brownish green pants that she hoped would not make her stand out among civilians. She had a backpack on with her things and some medical supplies that civilian doctors used. She dashed through the trees as quick as she could. It would take one day at her full speed to get to the village of Hidden Grass, and only after meeting the spy and delivering the message, she was supposed to take rest. It was not that hard, considering all those missions immediately after the war when she had gone days without sleeping.

The war.. It was something she avoided thinking about. Two years.. Two long years had passed since all their deaths. She remembered those moments with a gnawing pain in her chest. Sasuke's body was nowhere to be found. Naruto, stupid Naruto.. he had fell off a precipice, taking the enemy and his dreams with him. Kakashi sensei had died protecting her and Obito from black zetsu. Tsunade sama was dead saving thousand's of shinobi lives at once. And Sakura.. she had broken down there, in the middle of all the chaos, trembling like a leaf, and crying her soul out. She had never felt that useless in her life. Afterwards, she would often wonder why she was the only one left.. maybe it was a punishment for being not strong enough.. Anyway, she had abandoned trying to become strong in battle, and concentrated her waking hours on medical jutsu, and that alone. At least she could save some lives with that..

She was surprised when a tear ran down her cheeks. She had rarely cried after that. The pain had been there, always, whether she remembered or not. But it was now a part of her. But for many days now, tears just would not come. Why, she never knew, and a part of her never wanted to know.

She dashed through the thick forest for the rest of the day, even at night, stopping only to have her packed meals. By the time dawn came, she was sleepy and tired; but still pushed on. And she finally came to the edge of the forest. The trees were thinning out and she could see a village further off. It was a beautiful village, cradled in a valley between a lake and the forest. The village was not fully awake. At least not the civilians, though she could see a few Grass ninja guarding the perimeter. Carefully, she took to the narrow road leading to its gates and walked. She acted as if she was a civilian, tired and hungry, looking for a place to rest. At the gates, she produced the fake identifications of a civil missionary doctor to the ninja guards there. They looked up at her curiously, but did not say anything as they let her inside.

As she entered, she could see that the village was very poor, compared to Konoha. Most of the people there wore ragged clothes. The houses were small and looked ready to topple down at any moment. Children looked lean and hungry, some clinging to their mothers with fear when two ninjas walked by them. Sakura took it all in. She was grateful the war had not affected Konoha as much as these people.

She walked on, searching for the inn that was the landmark for the meeting place with the spy. Though the village was poor, it was beautiful, because of its proximity to the lake and the forest. Huge trees shaded most of the village, some bloomed beautiful red flowers and other had yellow blossoms on them. She spotted the inn almost instantly, partly because it was the only tall building in the area. She walked towards it, stopping at a place where two roads met and glanced around. The location she was told to wait must be somewhere around here.. That was when she spotted it. Two trees stood side by side as if they were twins, their branches searching for sunlight in opposite directions, making it look as if it was a single tree. Beneath the trees was a little pond, with people sitting there chatting about their daily lives and children enthusiastically running around them. These people seemed to be living better off than those she had met at the entrance. They glanced at her once when she approached the place, and turned back to continue their conversations.

Sakura walked towards the little pond and sat at its edge, wondering about the spy. How was she to identify him when she didn't even know who he was? That was when she felt a rough, but gentle hand covering her mouth. She was about to panick, when someone whispered, "Shhh... I'm the one you are looking for!" in her ears. The sound, though whispered, felt frighteningly familiar. She turned slowly to find a young man bent over her, trying to hide her from others. He was dressed in a simple yellow T-shirt and white shorts. He had reddish blond hair that looked as if they wanted to spike up at all angles. His cheeks, if you looked carefully enough, had three marks on each side. He looked like a civilian, but his eyes betrayed him, at least to her. His eyes were clear blue, and staring at her with barely suppressed excitement. His lips were trying in vain to hide a happy grin.

"N-Naruto.." She whispered, her eyes practically falling out of her sockets.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hi there.. :-) Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I assure you, Sakura won't be that useless anymore. Any suggestions or constructive criticism is welcome.. And please review.._


	2. Chapter 2

"Shh..." Naruto said, putting a finger to his lips, looking around to see if someone had heard them. From when did Naruto learn to be cautious? She wondered what else had changed. "My name is Shin around here. Come with me." Naruto whispered to her.

He walked non-chalantly towards the inn as if he had always belonged to this place. Sakura followed, not leaving her eyes from his back even for a moment, afraid that if she did so, he would vanish. 'Naruto is alive..' she thought, unable to believe those words forming in her mind. She trailed him into the inn, as he walked up to the reception and filled out a form for her.

"Oh.. So she is the friend you were talking about?" The receptionist, a middle aged lady, asked Naruto with a kind smile.

"Yeah.. She is the one! And she is a doctor, even if she doesn't look like one. Haha.." Naruto laughed stupidly, glancing at Sakura.

"Aah.. I see. That's admirable at your age.. What's your name, lady?" The woman asked.

She was about to say 'Sakura' before she caught herself and told "Leanne". It was the name on her fake ID card. She hoped Naruto was filling her details correctly, when he glanced at her and smiled. She smiled back at him slightly, still recovering from her shock at finding him alive. Naruto handed out the form to the receptionist, who gave Sakura a key, with the tag of a room number on it.

"The room is just opposite to Shin's dear, I hope you have a pleasant stay!" The woman told her.

Sakura smiled at her in a daze and followed Naruto, who led her into his own small untidy room first. She dropped her backpack on the floor and turned, just as Naruto locked the door and turned to her. Both stared at each other for a full minute, Sakura studying the changes on the friend she had thought long lost, while Naruto turned from happy to uncomfortable to sweating as she continued staring at him.

"Sa-Sakura-chan! Don't look at me like that.. I.. I might think you love me back!" Naruto grinned, his cheeks turning red. Sakura grinned in spite of herself.

"You haven't changed a bit, idiot! Except for your hair." She glanced ruefully at it. Yellow had suited him much better.

Naruto rubbed his hair at the top, making it stand out in different directions. "This is just temporary.. And Sakura-chan.. You look awesome, as always.. well except for your hair, of course.." Naruto laughed happily.

"You mean it doesn't look good?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, clenching one fist and testing it against her other palm.

"Uh.. um.. I didn't mean it that way, Sakura-chaan.." Naruto stammered, backing away towards the door. Sakura glared at him for a moment, tried to laugh and turned her head to stare out of a window in the room. She was angry. She didn't know why.

Naruto's expression softened. After a while of awkward silence, he spoke up. "I'm sorry." Sakura didn't say anything, but bit her lip to keep it from quivering. She tried hard to keep those wretched tears from filling her eyes, but failed miserably. Naruto approached her and started to pull her into a hug, but she pushed him away.

"At least you could have told me you were alive.." She turned her gaze on him, her voice cracking with the anger she felt.

Naruto looked up to meet her gaze. There were tears filling his eyes. There must have been a reason for keeping it a secret from her. She was just making it harder for him. She took a step towards him and hugged him tightly. "I missed you. I missed you all so badly." She said, a tear running down her cheek. He hugged her back, almost making it impossible for her to breathe. "Sakura-chan. I missed you too." Naruto mumbled. For a moment she just let him hug her, feeling the strength in his hands washing away all her fears, filling her hollowness with a warmth she had missed for so long. Finally she broke away from him, heading over to sit on a chair.

"So tell me what happened." She said, wiping her tears.

"Are you sure? You look pale Sakura-chan.. You should get some rest first." Naruto asked her.

"Resting can wait." Sakura replied simply, expecting him to go on.

"Alright. I will tell you everything I know." Naruto sighed, suddenly looking very tired as he settled into a chair opposite hers across a small table. "The war.. I thought everything will be alright once we defeated that rabbit granny and Black Zetsu. Sasuke and I had this brilliant plan. He would hide in another dimension and I would pretend to be dead. Since I didn't have that much chakra left, she would believe it, anyway. Then when the time was right, and she had her guard lowered, we would seal her for the final time. So I pretended to be dead and was falling off the edge, when Sasuke appeared behind her. She was about to float back up, when we attacked with everything we had. It worked, that's all I remember. Then I must have fainted."

Sakura listened, her eyes were wide.

"Sasuke must have saved me somehow.. Because when I opened my eyes, I was in another dimension. A world that looked weirdly familiar. It was the same as ours, except.. only the landscape was there. Nothing lived."

"And Sasuke? We had thought he simply vanished.." Sakura asked.

"He was there too, in that dimension." Naruto pressed his lips to a grim line.

"And then?"

"I don't understand most of the things that happened there myself." He replied. Sakura had a feeling of dread rising inside her at his almost frightened expression.

"We were both ready to faint out of exhaustion when I sensed something terrible. It was as if something very evil and strong was coming towards us. It was not a person. It was just that, a.. a sort of energy-like thing. I could see that Sasuke was sensing it too. And for the first time in my life, I saw fear in his eyes. I didn't understand what was happening. But I could almost feel that energy entering Sasuke's body. And then.. and then Sasuke screamed as if something was hurting him inside. I approached him with the thought of helping him somehow. But he shouted at me to stay away. I was scared. I had never seen anything like that. He was rolling on the ground as if he was struggling with something inside himself. And almost as suddenly as it started, it stopped. He didn't move for a while. I approached him cautiously, and the next thing I knew his hand was at my throat, squeezing the life out of me. I struggled against him for a moment. But he was very strong.. impossible after the fight we had just gone through. He should have been exhausted. And.. his eyes.. they were empty, as if his soul was not there. Then suddenly, something flickered in his eyes, as if he had suddenly remembered who I am, and what he was doing. His hands loosened. The next second, he vanished, leaving me there in that dimension."

Sakura stared at him, unable to believe what he was saying.

"I had no idea what was going on. And I was so exhausted, I fainted right there. When I woke up, I was still there, stuck in a weird world, with a scary experience. I didn't know how to go back. So I just started wandering around, looking for anything that would make sense. And I saw this castle, far away, on top of a mountain. Thinking I'll find someone there who could help me, I went there. There was no one.. Only weird instruments, and pictures that made no sense at all to me. I explored it more deeply, and guess what? I found a way to travel back to this dimension! A real physical way!" Naruto grinned at the happy memory. Sakura smiled at him encouragingly. "That way led to a cave nearby the village of Hidden Rain. I rested there for half a day and as soon as I could, got back to Konoha.

"You came to Konoha? But I never heard any news about that.." Sakura wondered.

"Well, as soon as my presence was detected in the borders, an Anbu guard took me to Obito, and I told him everything. Nobody else saw me. Obito thought about it for a while, and called in Shikhamaru."

"Shikhamaru knew?" Sakura gasped.

"Yeah.. But we were both swore to secrecy, along with the Anbu guard. We all agreed that it was something beyond known things that we were dealing with, and therefore, we needed all the advantage we had. Also, Obito told me that anyone who knew my whereabouts would be at a risk. That's why we couldn't tell you, Sakura-chan." Naruto glanced at her with pleading eyes.

"I understand, Naruto." Sakura nodded.

"After that, I was assigned by Obito this mission of keeping track of Sasuke. Since I can sense Sasuke's chakra easily, it has been a simple task till now."

"You can sense him? Where is he now?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Don't worry. Not anywhere nearby. After the old hermit gave us some of his powers, I can sense him even if he is very far away. And right now, he is in the forests bordering the Hidden Hills village." Naruto gave her a reassuring smile.

"Did you see him after that?" Sakura prodded.

"No, it seems that he doesn't want to get anywhere near civilization. Whenever I try to go in his direction, he moves away.. It's almost as if he is.. afraid of something.." Naruto was frowning, a worry seeping through his usually carefree expression.

"At least he is alive.." Sakura muttered. "Well, why was I sent here now, anyway? I thought you guys wanted to keep it a secret."

"Right. That reminds me, did Shikhamaru give you any message to give to me? Last time he said he had a theory and would send word as soon as he was certain of something."

"Shikhamaru? No.. But Obito did give me something." She took out a scroll tied with red ribbon and ran her chakra through it. She then handed it over to Naruto. He opened the scroll and read through the message. At first she didn't see any change in his expression. Then suddenly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, and turning towards the window, he started to run.

"What are yo-" Sakura started, struggling against his iron grip and stopped when the door crashed open.

Uchiha Sasuke stood in the doorway, his eyes as hollow as a dead man's.

**A/N: That was not what I planned at first, :-P but anyway, I ended up writing this. Hope you enjoyed it :-) Your reviews inspire me..**


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto felt the hair on his arms stand up at right angles as he watched Sasuke.

He was just standing there, black eyes reflecting nothing but the dim lights inside the room. Why hadn't he sensed him before? That was when the realization hit him, this was a shadow clone! And it was hiding its chakra so well.. as should have been expected from Sasuke, of course. The real one was still out there, near the Hidden Hills. Naruto could still sense it. He was stupid, falling for such a simple trick. But what was a shadow clone doing here?

Naruto knew it was too late to run. He cautiously pulled Sakura behind him and steeled himself to face Sasuke. Shadow clone or not, he was an enemy who shouldn't be taken lightly. He needed a plan. There was no way he can defeat this shadow clone of a Sasuke who was at present at least twice as stronger as him, thanks to that unknown evil thing; and who had no recognition of his own old teammates. No, there was no way they could get out of this alive, at least not without some help. Help.. He repeated in his mind. Something clicked. He remembered he was not alone, unlike the last time.

For a moment, Sasuke did not move. But those dead eyes of his turned from pitch black to the blood red of his Mangekyou, taking in everything they saw. First he stood there, his arms folded. He was studying Sakura, as if he was seeing her for the first time in his life. Then to Naruto's relief, he turned his whole focus to Naruto, the cold look in his eyes turning somehow more deadly.

Naruto stood in his fighting stance, ready to counter any attack that Sasuke might throw at him, a plan forming in his mind. For the first time in his life, he wished he had a Sharingan. Sasuke's stance changed minutely, but still perceptible enough for Naruto to know what was coming next.

The next few things happened in a flash.

Sasuke disappeared for a fraction of a millisecond.

Naruto turned around one eighty degrees and pushed Sakura away from him, further backwards, and gave her a little of his own chakra in the process. He saw the fear in her eyes fade away to the calmness of understanding, just as Sasuke appeared between them, his sword drawn out and ready to bore a hole into Naruto's chest.

A sweat ran down Naruto's forehead. That was fast! The sword had almost touched his shirt when Sakura's finger touched a spot on Sasuke's neck from behind, sending a strong pulse of chakra through his system. Sasuke stood there, paralyzed for a moment, his eyes showing a flicker of surprise.

Both Sakura and Naruto knew that such a little trick could not hold someone as strong as Sasuke for long, but that moment of distraction was all that Naruto had hoped for.

Huge chakra chains suddenly shot out from Naruto's body, binding Sasuke and restraining him helplessly from head to toe in a flash, making it impossible for him to move. Naruto willed the chains to tie off by themselves, and cautiously tested its strength. It would be enough to hold against a shadow clone.

Sasuke growled, baring his teeth, and the voice that came from his throat was not his own. It was almost animal like. His eyes darted here and there, trying to find an escape. But there was none. They watched as he struggled against the chains. But the chains were not normal, they sucked in chakra of whatever was bound inside them. And slowly, his chakra diminished. With a last hatred filled look directed at Naruto, he vanished, leaving only the chains behind.

Sakura slowly kneeled on the ground, beside the chains. Naruto just stared at where Sasuke was just a moment before, expecting him to appear from somewhere else and attack them. He waited for a full minute, before giving out a sigh of relief and allowing himself to relax a bit.

"It was just a shadow clone.." Sakura said.

"Yeah. If it had been the real one, we would not have stood a chance." Naruto replied.

They both were silent for a long moment, each caught up in their own thoughts, absorbing what had just happened.

"Naruto.." Sakura said, her words almost a whisper. "Sasuke's chakra is.." Sakura was frowning at the space inside the chains, as if searching for the right word. "..corrupted." She finished, glancing at him.

"Corrupted? What do you mean? And how do you know that?" Naruto asked, curious.

"I felt it when I ran my chakra through his chakra system. The whole system is infected.. it is as if some sort of evil chakra has entered his system and is suppressing his own chakra. It is strong, stronger than his own, and it is not concentrated anywhere, just spread all over. And it has so well merged with Sasuke's own chakra that you can't easily differentiate which one is his chakra and which is one is... not." She gulped, a fearful expression spreading over her face.

Naruto didn't know what to make of that. He just stared at her as if she might know some way to make it all right. "Sakura.. read this." Naruto tossed the scroll that she had handed over to him before Sasuke had interrupted. She glanced at Naruto curiously and began to read.

"_He must have a spy_." She read Obito's words aloud. "_Find out who it is, and bring him back. PS: Theoretically, it all makes sense now, and her expertise might help_." She read it over once again in her mind and sighed. "So, the spy is his shadow clone? And I'm needed because of my medical knowledge?"

Naruto nodded glumly. "We can't catch the 'spy' now. All we have left is Shikhamaru's theory, and what you might have found just now."

"We should head back to Konoha then, and hear out his theory." Sakura suggested.

Naruto nodded absently, lost in his own thoughts. Why was Sasuke trying to kill him? Of course, it was not something new, he thought wryly. It had always been that way between them.. but there was something off about it.. Before, it had always been for a reason - rivalry, revenge, his family, or something along those lines.. And he had even understood them. But this.. this was entirely different. Sasuke just wanted to kill him out of hatred, just for the pleasure of it. That was not the Sasuke he knew. He had to find the real Sasuke, wherever he was hiding, before it was too late.

**A/N:** _Well.. This story is not going to be as short as I thought.. :-P If you have any suggestions, please do tell! And thank you for your reviews! It is the only proof I get that real people are reading this :-)_


	4. Chapter 4

The Hidden Hills village was almost uninhabited, except for a few civilians who rested there before continuing to their destinations, or ninja teams sent by other villages to assess the level of destruction for political purposes. On the border of this pitiful remains of what was once a primitive, but peaceful village, was a small circle of hills that obstructed it from the view of other villages. The hills were mostly made of rocks with smooth surfaces, as though water had flown over them for years, smoothing away their sharp edges. If you looked carefully enough, you could almost make out a few of the natural entrances to the caves that ran throughout these hills.

And in one such cave, there was an unusual presence. The presence of a single body, with the feelings of a thousand minds.

The body was that of a young man, his handsome face the only proof for that. The rest of him told a different story. He had just a black shorts on, that was covered with mud and dried blood, as was the rest of his body. But the thing that was most disturbing about him was the expression on his face. It was an expression that no one had ever seen. If expressions could tell stories, you could write a gruesome history with that single expression.

How anyone could still be alive after experiencing such shattering feelings is nothing less than a miracle. Anyone would come to the conclusion that there is something of a greater cause than himself that he was struggling for, something he wanted to cling on to, that was stronger than this misery. He did not want to forget that, whatever happened to him. Because at some point of time in his life, he had known what happiness is, he had known what he was living for, and he had known what love is.. And he so badly wanted to confirm that his beliefs were not just mere fantasies.. He so badly wanted them to be true..

He felt the confusion turn into raging anger as his shadow clone's memories merged with his own. Raw anger, hatred, and sadness of a thousand souls spread like wild fire in his veins, burning away anything else. It felt oddly good. Why did it feel so good? Was it the anger itself? Or was it the cause for it? What had been the cause? Why were these faces of a stupid blonde boy and a pink haired girl popping up in his mind? Did he know them? The thoughts were extinguished in an instant. He opened his eyes and let his gaze wander. He was in a cave, though he did not remember coming there. And he was surrounded by the bones of animals he must have eaten a few hours ago. Who was he? A name was just playing around his memory. But he couldn't reach it. Not yet. All he could think of was agony, and fear.. the terror of seeing blood oozing out of your own chest.. your friends' bodies lying on the ground lifeless, parts of them missing.. the stark fear when you are at the verge of losing your life.. the heart wrenching sadness you feel when someone you were meant to protect is being snatched away from you.. the anger at the sight of the rubble that had once been your home.. and above all, the hatred.. pure white hatred for all of them who caused it. He wanted nothing else.. He had to kill them all.. show them a little of this pain.. Show them..

But I'm one of them. A thought told him. Silence. He heard a scream and wondered if it was his own. It didn't matter.. The memories and thoughts rushing into his mind washed away everything else. He no more wanted to remember who or where he was.. What he was living for.. It didn't matter.. All he knew was.. hatred.

* * *

Naruto sighed as Shikhamaru asked the question for the fifth time, "Are you sure he did not kill any civilians?"

He was getting weary of this cross questioning. "I think you should stop with the questions and tell us your theory."

"This is important." Shikhamaru pressed on.

"That's why I'm still sitting here." Naruto grimaced. "I'm telling you, we didn't see any civilian hurt. And I think the receptionist lady would have told me if they were. I lived there for almost two years, you know. She has become a good friend of mine. And she always seems to know everything that happens in the village. No one except the ninja were killed."

"One last question. Can you still sense Sasuke in the Hidden Hills village?"

"Yup. He hasn't moved."

"Alright. Now let me get it all together." Shikhamaru closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead with two fingers on either side.

He must have a headache, Naruto thought, chuckling in spite of himself. Sakura glared him to silence. They were all sitting in Sakura's apartment, since the Hokage's office was full of prying eyes and ears. After hearing the incident with Sasuke the day before, Obito had asked Shikhamaru to come up with a solid theory and let him know.

Shikhamaru seemed to be in a trance. Naruto was almost sure he was sleeping. He had always been a lazy fellow. So Naruto was about to shake him awake when he opened his eyes.

"I know what is going on." Shikhamaru announced.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked. "Just like that? Did you have a vision or something?"

"Tell us Shikhamaru!" Sakura prodded the genius, the gleam in her eyes wavering between excitement and fear.

"Right. I will have to start with the history of Hidden Hills village." Shikhamaru started.

"What! I don't wanna hear history now." Naruto pouted.

"Naruto, you want to become Hokage, right? You should know history well." Sakura advised him.

"This will interest you, I believe." Shikhamaru gave Naruto a smile that did not have any ring of 'pleasant' about it.

"Alright. Go on." Naruto furrowed his eyes in concentration.

"The people living in the Hidden Hills village were a peaceful lot. A little primitive, I should say. But they were happy with their lives. Most of them were into farming, or raising cattle, or things like that. And they were not involved with anything outside of their little village, maybe because of the geographical barrier.. those circle of hills surrounding them.. or maybe they were just not interested. They were not into trade, or ninjas, or fighting. And they were more content than any other village, at least before the Third Ninja War broke out."

Naruto found the peaceful village's story a little fascinating, and Sakura's brows were furrowed as she guessed what was coming. Shikhamaru went on.

"There was a river running through their village, a river that they all depended upon heavily. But in the war, the course of the river was changed, and it no longer ran through the Hidden Hills. The people there were confused at this. They did not know much of what was going on outside their little world, except that there was a war between ninjas. They held a council meeting to find a solution to their problem, and decided to approach the ninjas themselves."

"And so, three members of the council made their way here to Konoha, and met with the Third Hokage. They told him of their problem with the river, and asked him to help them. The Third Hokage, being the kind man he was, agreed, and sent five Konoha shinobi, who excelled in water and earth element techniques, to go to their village and set the course of the river right. They set out for their journey. But the Hidden Sand village got news of this, and they sent some teams to follow them. They had this wrong notion that Konoha was seeking the help of Hidden Hills village to somehow wage another war upon the Sand."

"That sounds wrong.." Sakura mused. "How can they expect Hidden Hills village to help us? I mean, they are not strong in fighting."

"Yeah.. I'm getting to it. You see, though they were a primitive lot, they had certain powers that were a mystery to even the most powerful shinobis."

"What sort of powers?" Naruto frowned.

"Individually, they could not use chakra as well as shinobi do, but collectively, they could do something astonishing. They could connect to one another's minds and could think collectively, if the situation required them to."

"That's amazing!" Sakura gasped.

"The Sage's dream.." Naruto was surprised there were people who could do it already.

"Yeah.. So these sand shinobi attacked our own ninjas and switched places with them, without the knowledge of the men from Hidden Hills. When asked about it, they spouted some lies, which they must have believed, since they led them to their village. But once within the village, the Sand shinobi showed their true faces, and asked the villagers to spill their secrets.. they wanted to know how they could get that power. But the people refused to say anything, unless they set the river's course right. The Sand's Hokage didn't have the patience to lend service when their own people were licking their wounds from the war. So he ordered his men to seize the village and use torture as a means to know their secret."

"That's cruel." Sakura frowned.

Naruto's fists clenched.

"And their little village was seized. The shinobi destroyed their homes, killed their children, abused their women, and slaughtered any one who had the courage to stand up against them.. Still, they refused to say their secret. So the shinobi put all the remaining ones in a pit and burnt them alive. There were no survivors."

Naruto and Sakura absorbed the horrible fact in silence. Naruto could almost feel his blood boiling with anger.

"And what happened to those filthy shinobi?" He spat out the word shinobi like poison.

"The incident was covered up by all the villages pretty nicely. No one wanted to start another war. The story went to the classified files of Hokage's office, which I happened to read when I became the advisor to the Hokage." He sighed heavily. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Those shinobi must be old people now, probably regretting what they did then, and expecting to die at any moment."

"And how does this all relate to our mission?" Sakura asked, after a moment of silent cursing.

"From here on, it is all my guess. Because of their power, the Hidden Hills people must have somehow lived on with just their consciousness, even after their bodies were burnt. Since there were no more physical barriers, they could travel across dimensions at will. Their purpose could only be one thing - revenge. Against all shinobi. And to accomplish that, they needed a physical body. A body strong enough to kill, strong enough to remain alive even with their minds inside of him, but above all, who has a heart that can understand them and help them achieve that."

"So they chose Sasuke?" Sakura whispered.

"Yes." Shikhamaru answered.

"But.. why did they choose me as a target? They could have started off killing anyone.." Naruto asked.

"You are as strong as Sasuke. They might see you as someone who can destroy them once again." Shikhamaru told him.

"But that is ridiculous.." Naruto said. "I wouldn't want to destroy them."

"Yeah. But they don't know that." Shikhamaru replied.

"But if they wanted me killed, then why did he send a shadow clone? He could have killed me for sure if he had come directly." Naruto wondered.

"There is only one explanation to that. Sasuke wanted to send you a warning." Shikhamaru glanced at him with a tight smile. "I think he needs your help."

* * *

**A/N**: _Phew! That was a serious chapter.. Am I getting too serious? Warn me if I'm! I'll try to lighten it up in the next few. Please review.. :-)_


	5. Chapter 5

It was four in the morning when Naruto and Sakura arrived at the gates of Konoha for their top secret mission. They had plain brown cloaks with hoods covering their faces over their casual dresses, Naruto in his bright orange blazer and Sakura in her red top and divided skirts. They had been carefully hiding their chakra and themselves so that no one in Konoha could recognize them. Shikhamaru was taking a shift as the guard, as was pre-arranged. He waved them off, after telling them to be careful.

Sakura was feeling a little nervous now. Would Sasuke be alright? What the hell.. she thought, only two days before she had believed these two were dead. And now she was going on a mission with one of them to save the other.. Things have defenitely changed. For better. I should quit worrying. Sakura glanced at Naruto. She could see only his blue eyes and a little lock of his blond hair peeking from beneath the hood. There was a calm determination in his eyes, which he hid with a carefree smile when he caught her glancing at him. Sakura felt her tension ease a little bit.

"Let's go, Sakura-chan." Naruto said quietly.

"Yes Naruto." Sakura nodded, and the two noiselessly slipped ahead into the fading darkness, away from Konoha.

Half an hour later, they were dashing through the forest, taking the path that would quickly lead them to Hidden Hills. Even then, it would be a three days' journey, at the least. They had taken off their cloaks, seeing it would only hinder their progress. The sky was starting to pale, though she couldn't see much of what lay before them, as they jumped from tree to tree.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a happy grin pasted on Naruto's face.

"What are you grinning like an idiot for, Naruto?" Sakura demanded.

"Sakura-chan! Doesn't this feel a little nostalgic? You and me chasing Sasuke-teme?!" Naruto laughed.

Sakura grinned. It was true. She did feel a bit nostalgic in spite of her worries. "Yeah! Think we should throw a party when we meet him?" She stuck her tongue out at him.

Naruto grinned back. "Teme would go HNNNN..?!" He imitated Sasuke's surprised face.

Sakura laughed. "Naruto.. If this shit of a mission is a success.. and if Sasuke comes back to Konoha.. and if we are not dead by then, let us throw a party for everyone.. and we'll celebrate like we've never done before!"

"I'd love that Sakura-chan! Will you dance with me then? Pleaasseee..." Naruto pleaded, puppy-eyed.

"Maybe.. Only if Sasuke-kun is okay with that.." Sakura told him, considering his plea. "But Naruto. You should go with Hinata.. She really likes you a lot."

Naruto's grin turned into a shy smile. "I know.. I like her too."

"You do?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "I never saw you acting towards her like that.. And if I'm right, you have never even told her you like her."

"Uhmm.. Sakura-chan, I feel a bit.. weird around her.. I can't say things just like that when it's her. It's strange, but I think I'm almost scared about it." Naruto gulped.

"Did I hear right?!" Sakura laughed. "The great Uzumaki Naruto, The Future Hokage, Saviour of the World, Bringer of Peace, is scared? Of a girl? Now that will certainly strike the headlines of Konoha Times."

"Sakura-chaan!" Naruto cried out. "Keep it a secret!"

"And what will I get in return?"

"A kiss?"

Thump. Naruto had his first black eye after the war.

* * *

**A/N:**_ Yeah! I know. It was short. And nothing really happened. But I felt like goofing around :-D Put up with me, pleezz... I'll make the next one really long :-) So please keep reading.._


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto's clone yawned as he wandered around the little clearing in the forest they had chosen to rest. It was almost midnight, and they had two more days of travel ahead of them. Sakura and the real him were sleeping like logs. And he was growing tired himself. He had only a tiny bit of his real chakra, since his only purpose was to keep track of Sasuke. And Sasuke was still glued to the same spot he had been for days. Naruto wondered if the bastard was okay. What would it be like to have a thousand people's thoughts inside your head? Nothing good, he concluded. But Sasuke was strong. If anyone had the strength to resist such a thing, it would be that arrogant jerk of his best friend.

Naruto sighed as he sat down on the ground, tired, leaning against the trunk of a tree. He wondered if he should wake up the real him, and make another clone with a little more chakra. Deciding against it, he fought hard to keep himself awake. Sasuke's presence was like a fixed dot in the far back corner of his mind. His eyelids felt heavy and they were almost about to close themselves when he felt it. Sasuke moved. At first he thought he had imagined it, but then, it became more and more pronounced, as if Sasuke was gaining speed gradually.

Naruto jumped up and merged himself with his real self. He was wide awake with a start.

"Sakura-chan!" He said urgently, shaking her sleeping figure beside him gently. She opened her eyes immediately.

"What is it Naruto? Did you sense something?" She asked him, sitting up.

"Yeah! Sasuke is moving." He told her.

"Huh? Is he trying to run away?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Nope. He is coming towards us. At full speed." Naruto gulped, as he sensed Sasuke covering the quarter of the distance between them already. "He will be here at any moment now."

"We will stick to our plan, then?" Sakura asked, rummaging inside her backpack for her needle.

Their 'plan' was simple. Naruto would fight Sasuke head on until Sasuke was physically weak. Then Sakura would inject a medicine she had prepared that would obstruct Sasuke's chakra channels, isolating his chakra from the rest of his body. That would at least help Sasuke to suppress the foreign chakra from accessing his brain and meddling with his thoughts. At least, she hoped it would. She hadn't tried anything like it before.

"Yeah. We will stick to the plan. Sakura-chan, hide yourself perfectly. If he sees you, he will recognize you from our last fight, and the first thing he will do is kill you. I don't want that happening."

"I know. Don't worry, he won't be able to sense me." Sakura gave him a confident smile. He gave her a thumbs up. "Naruto, just don't die on me again, alright?"

"I won't, Sakura-chan." Naruto promised, his lips pressed into a grim line. At least not until Sasuke was injected, he added to himself.

Sakura went on to hide herself atop a tree a safe distance away from the clearing, and Naruto was amazed that even he couldn't sense her anymore. He smiled. There are some things only Sakura-chan can do..

He could feel Sasuke's presence grow closer and closer, as he waited for him. He had taken his kunais out, and the special weapons he would need were safe in the summoning scroll, tucked away in the sachet tied to his thighs.

There. He could see Sasuke now, coming towards him. He had slowed down a bit on seeing Naruto, and was watching the surroundings, as if searching for someone. But it wasn't that which disturbed Naruto the most. What he had been expecting was a figure similar to the shadow clone that they had fought earlier. But now he knew it was a disguise. The real Sasuke was nothing like the shadow clone.

He was a bloody mess, to put it kindly. He had just his black shorts on, the sword tucked onto it with a tree vine. His hair was in a filthy disarray. From head to toe, he was covered in mud, mixed with blood. Naruto could make out some ugly deep gashes on his chest and stomach, that had probably started to fester a long time ago. There could only be one cause. Sasuke had been hurting himself to stay sane.

Naruto felt like closing his eyes at the sight. He had not expected this. He had expected to fight a Sasuke who was in good shape, calm and collected as he always was. But this.. He almost wanted to pity him.. How was he expected to fight his best friend when he was in such a pathetic state? He pushed the thought away. He had to do this to save Sasuke, not to kill him.

Without waiting for any further thoughts, Naruto charged ahead towards Sasuke, throwing two kunai at him in advance. Sasuke's focus returned to Naruto, and he easily dodged the kunais. So the bloody gashes had not dulled his reflexes. Sasuke vanished from his sight and appeared behind him, as soon as Naruto sensed it and turned around to face him. Their eyes met for an instant, dead black eyes against storming blue ones, before their fists cracked against each other's jaws, sending them sprawling backwards. Sasuke took out his sword and brandished it in front of him, a calculating look in his eyes. Naruto jumped away as soon as it came hurling upon him, seeking his throat.

Naruto panted. That sword was annoying. He did a few hand signs and touched the ground with his palm. Wood erupted from the ground, reaching forward and enveloping Sasuke and squeezing out the sword from his hand. Sasuke vanished from its clutches, leaving the sword on the ground. Naruto frowned, trying to sense him. The next moment, he appeared just a feet away in front of him, the Mangekyou Sharingan in his eyes reflecting the meagre light from the moon.

Before he could do anything, a terrible image appeared in his mind. Naruto screamed. A huge pit in the middle of rubble, packed with people of all sorts.. He could make out the white hairs of old men and women, closing their eyes in prayers, people in their middle ages trying to stay calm and find a way to protect others, as they shook their fists at him, children crying as they trembled with fear, hugging and hiding behind the legs of their mothers.. the women screaming at him and pleading to show mercy..

He watched in horror as he showered dark oily liquid on all of them. Wanted to stop himself when he threw that spark of fire into the pit. But he couldn't. He was forced to look when the fire caught them, slowly and agonizingly conscious of the disbelief and terror on their faces as he felt himself throw back his head and laugh. He felt his very soul shrink away as they started screaming, writhing to put off the fire that was burning them and slowly turning their body into a stenching black pile of flesh. He felt a part of him wanting to die as he realized there was nothing he could do to stop it.

No.. there was something wrong with this.. He wouldn't do anything like it.. He couldn't have done it.. Right. This must be a genjutsu. He is fighting Sasuke..

He snapped his eyes away from the red ones.

"IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, BASTARD!" He yelled as he kicked Sasuke in the stomach with all the strength he could muster, hurling him backwards.

Sasuke hit the ground with a thud. Naruto quickly ran over to his friend's surprised figure and clutched him by the neck, pulling him upwards. He had to be careful about those eyes. Sasuke's hands gripped his own, trying to pry them away from his throat.

"SASUKE! I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE!" Naruto yelled at him. "I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE FEELING! I KNOW WHAT THESE PEOPLE WENT THROUGH! BUT NONE OF IT IS YOUR FAULT! GET IT THROUGH THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS!"

Naruto dug his fingernails into Sasuke's throat, making him wince.

"And you.. The people of Hidden Hills! I'm sorry! We're all really sorry for what you all went through. I know there is nothing we can do to make it right." Naruto said. He was trembling now, tears filling his eyes. "But I'll see to it that nothing like that happens ever again. But please.. don't destroy our villages.. If you want, you can kill me, but only if you promise you'll never touch my village or my friends.. I love them as much as you loved your own village!" He released Sasuke slowly, allowing him to stand on his own feet.

"_WE NEED REVENGE, NOT YOUR APOLOGY._" A thousand voices spoke at once from Sasuke's body, startling Naruto for a moment. "_WE WILL KILL YOU ALL. WE CAN'T REST IN PEACE UNTIL WE DO THAT_."

Naruto stared at him. He knew that nothing he would say will affect them. There was no way he could talk them into a peaceful agreement, after what they had gone through. And it was neither of their fault. The only way to proceed was to inject that medicine into Sasuke.

"You can't touch any of my friends, at least not when I'm fighting against you." Naruto said, getting ready to launch another attack on Sasuke. To his surprise, laughter erupted from Sasuke's mouth, the voices of a thousand dead people echoing eerily in the night.

"_WE ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND, BOY! THOUGH IT IS HIS BODY WE ARE OCCUPYING. AND UNLIKE HIM, WE HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO HONOR YOUR WISHES. THERE WAS NO HONOR WHEN THOSE SHINOBI DESTROYED OUR VILLAGE. AND YOU EXPECT US TO BE FAIR? YOU FELL RIGHT INTO OUR TRAP, BOY!"_

That was when Naruto saw it, the black aura that was enveloping Sasuke. He could see it shifting, writhing, clawing its way towards him. The deeper he looked, the more distinctly he could see their faces.. charred black faces with the expression of terror permanently etched on them.

Naruto screamed.

* * *

Shikhamaru was pacing back and forth for the hundredth time in the Hokage's office, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"Well?" Obito prodded. "Any clue as to what is haunting your thoughts?"

"I am trying." Shikhamaru said, closing his eyes and standing still for a moment. There was something that was nagging his thoughts, though he couldn't pinpoint what. There was something that he had missed. The way Sasuke has been in the same spot for a long time, the way only his shadow clone appeared, and not himself.. Something was wrong. He was sure of it. He had thought Sasuke wanted Naruto's help. But how could Naruto help when he was less stronger than Sasuke? Of course, there was Sakura.. but Sasuke didn't know of the progress she had made in medical field in these two years. So he couldn't have known that she would be able to make a medicine. No.. this was not Sasuke.. this was a trick of the villagers themselves. This had to be. They wanted Naruto to come to them, so that..

Shikhamaru opened his eyes with a start.

"Hokage-sama! We have to send a rescue team immediately!"

"May I ask why?"

"Naruto and Sakura are in danger. The villagers didn't intend to kill Naruto, they intended to kill the rest of us, using Naruto and Sasuke as their weapons!"

* * *

**A/N**: _And wait for the next chapter to find out just how Sakura is going to survive against her strong and insane teammates ;-) Thank you all for reading! And special thanks to my reviewers! I wouldn't be writing this enthusiastically without your reviews :-)_


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura felt her heart pounding against her chest when she heard Naruto scream. She could just make out his figure falling to the ground beside Sasuke, doubled over himself in pain. No.. No, no, no! She bit her lips as a tear rolled down her cheek. Not Naruto too.. They couldn't do that to him.. Naruto writhed in pain for a second, before lying still. Then he stood up slowly, as if in his sleep. She felt downright scared now. What should she do? There was no way she could fight these two. The only option would be to escape somehow, and notify the Hokage. But what could they do? Even the whole village would not stand a chance against these two monsters if they teamed up. She had to somehow inject them both, before they reached Konoha.. But how?

She held her breath as Naruto straightened up and turned his head in her direction. If they could access his mind, they would know she was hiding here. At almost the same instant, Sasuke's head whipped around too, as if Naruto had told him.

Sakura remained motionless, her chakra barrier still in place. They shouldn't be able to sense her with that. But they weren't exactly blind. If she made a single movement, at least Sasuke would know. There was nothing she could do but wait. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she heard one of them move, probably towards her. Panic was rising inside her, sending a queasy feeling inside her stomach. She wished Kakashi sensei was beside her. He would know what to do. But this would have been the last thing he would have expected.. Naruto and Sasuke working as a team to kill her! Sakura laughed in her mind.

Suddenly, she heard a crash. At first she thought it was them, catching on to her. But then she realized that it had come from the opposite direction from her. She risked a peek at the two. They were distracted, and were moving away from her direction, towards the sound. Sakura knew she wouldn't get another chance, and silently ran down the tree that she was hiding on. On reaching the ground, she did a few hand signs and disguised herself as an eight year old girl with brown hair and grey eyes, all the while holding the chakra barrier around her so that they wouldn't sense her jutsu. She then took out another needle filled with medicine from her backpack, and put them carefully in her pockets. She hid the bag behind some bushes and crawled along the ground noiselessly. She reached a spot that Naruto and Sasuke would have to take if they were going to Konoha. There, she curled down right in the middle of the path and pretended to be asleep.

At least five minutes would have passed, before she heard footsteps approaching her. They came near and stopped. Her heart was beating as if she had done twenty laps around Konoha, and her eyelids were refusing to stand still, flickering against her eyes. Her every survival instinct screamed at her to run. But she lay still. She was almost sure they would thrust a weapon down her throat when she heard a voice.. Sasuke's voice. Not that horrible voice of a thousand dead people. This was her Sasuke-kun's voice that would always make her heart leap.

"Wake up, child. This is no place to sleep." He was saying. Did he gain his memory back? Sakura feigned surprise and sat up rubbing her eyes. She slowly looked up at the speaker with her hopes high. But all she saw were those dead black eyes staring at her, emotionless. Her heart felt as if a heavy stone had been placed on it. It was the villagers speaking, through Sasuke's voice. She said nothing.

"What are you doing here, child? You should go home." It was Naruto, in his own voice. She turned to him, and felt like crying when she saw the same dead eyes there.

"I'm scared." She sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I got lost in the forest when playing. I want to see my mommy." It was too easy a role for her, she thought wryly. All she had to do was express her real feelings, and they would see a harmless eight year old civilian girl, innocent and scared.

"Don't worry. You can travel with us till the border. You are from Konoha, right?" Naruto asked her.

She nodded vigorously, all the while sobbing. The women inside their heads would remember their own little girls, she knew. And to her pleasant surprise, Naruto hoisted her up into his arms, carrying her as they made their way towards Konoha. Sakura leaned her head against his chest, a relaxed smile spreading on her tiny face.

"What's your name, child?" Sasuke asked.

She stiffened for a moment, before saying Kiri. It was the only name of a girl that she could come up with.

"Are you a ninja?" Naruto prodded.

"No.. I'm not." She answered.

"I see. How are ninjas like, in your village? Are you scared of them?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura knew they were gathering information. "Scared? No. They are very kind and friendly. And Mommy told me they help protect us from enemies." She said, hoping to put a kind image into their minds.

"Do they? Have you seen them fight?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes! I have. They once protected us all with their lives when someone named Pein tried to attack our village."

They were silent after that. Sakura wished they would reconsider taking their revenge. Suddenly, Naruto put her down on the ground.

"Why did we stop?" Sakura asked, trying to put on her best innocent face.

"Some people are coming this way. We should hide. They can be dangerous." Naruto told her as they led her deep inside a thicket and hid besides her.

Her heart skipped a beat. Who were coming? If it was from her own village, she could try to signal them. But they won't be able to do anything against these two.. Their footsteps approached their hiding place. Naruto and Sasuke had turned their focus on the intruders. This would be as good chance as any, she thought, silently sliding her arm into her pocket and taking hold of her needles. She then slowly took a step backwards, as if scared. Naruto and Sasuke didn't even glance at her. She took out the needles and carefully lifted them. As she took note of the veins in the back of their necks, she brought them closer, and with a final glance, thrust them deep inside their skin, emptying the medicine she had prepared for Sasuke into their chakra systems.

They whipped their heads around to face her. All the traces of gentleness had left their faces. Sakura trembled as a growl-like noise escaped their lips. They moved forward to kill her. One of their hands started squeezing the breath out of her throat, while the other took out a kunai. She felt the tip of the kunai cut into her chest when they froze. The next moment, their faces were flooded with emotions, and they stared at her, confusion and guilt spreading on their expressions. Sakura gave them a tiny smile, before releasing her chakra barrier and disguise. Then the pain engulfed her and everything went black.

* * *

Naruto woke up in the hospital bed, a plain white ceiling staring at him. Golden rays of light filtered through the window nearby. Was it morning or evening? He tried to remember. What was he doing here? He realized that there were several wires connected to different points on his body. He looked to his side and saw a needle sticked on to his arm, supplying a greenish liquid into him. Yuck! What is that for? He was about to sit up when Sakura walked in, wearing her medical clothes.

Seeing her was like a trigger for memories to flow into his confused brain.

He remembered his fight with Sasuke in the forest, seeing those terrible black things coming towards him. After that, all he remembered were snippets of memories, as if seeing from the eyes of someone else.

He had seen a little girl, lying curled on the ground..

Him, Sasuke and the girl waiting for someone to appear..

The girl's scared face after she had plunged something sharp into his neck..

The anger he had felt at being betrayed..

Plunging a kunai into her chest..

And he remembered that the girl had suddenly turned into Sakura-chan, who then fell to the ground unconscious. He didn't remember anything after that.

"Sakura-chan.. I.. I tried to kill you.." Naruto felt disgusted with himself. He lowered his head, unable to look her in the eyes.

To his surprise, Sakura came near the bed and gave him a gentle hug. "But I'm still alive, am I not?" She smiled at him. "It's alright Naruto, it was not your fault. And I could heal myself almost back to normal. But more importantly, how are you feeling?" She checked the monitors that showed changing data from the wires that were connected to his body.

Naruto checked his mind. Everything seemed normal. Except his chakra. He couldn't even access his chakra.

"I can't-"

"Yeah. You chakra channels are blocked for now. But everything else is okay, right? I mean, your mind.." Sakura trailed off.

"My mind is doing great." Naruto grinned. "Those people are locked away safely, I guess."

"That's good." Sakura nodded with satisfaction, as she turned the knob of one of the devices, which began showing a steady graph.

"How is Sasuke?" Naruto asked her.

Sakura was silent for a moment. She backed away from the monitors and checked the green liquid that was being pumped into Naruto. "I don't know how he was fighting you. He shouldn't have been able to stand up, even." She gulped. "When I inspected his damages, he had three broken ribs, seven deep gashes in his chest and stomach that had festered, torn ligaments in his arms and legs, internal bleeding in lungs and intestines.. and.. and his chakra system was damaged severely."

Naruto took in a sharp breath. "Will he be okay?"

"I hope so.. I have done everything I can. Physical injuries can be dealt with. It is the chakra system damage that bothers me. It is as if his body has gotten used to that foreign chakra, and his own chakra production is very low now.. almost that of a civilian!" Sakura bit her lips, worrying. "I don't know if he will be back to normal on that aspect."

Soft green chakra surrounded her hands as she held them over Naruto's head, the soothing feeling making him feel drowsy.

Naruto stared at her for a moment, and then smiled. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! The bastard won't give up that easily! I will see to that."

Sakura smiled gratefully. "You should sleep now, Naruto. The green liquid will cleanse your chakra system in about four hours. After that, I will open the blocks so that you can start using your chakra again."

"That sounds good." Naruto smiled at her, his eyelids feeling heavy. "Sakura-chan.. You promised to dance with me.."

Sakura grinned. "I haven't forgotten, Naruto!" But Naruto was fast asleep by then.

She stared at his peaceful face for a moment. On an impulse, she bent down and kissed his forehead, lightly so that he won't wake up. She then left the room, closing the door as she stepped into the hospital corridor.

She did not see the happy smile that was spreading on Naruto's face.

* * *

**A/N:** _I know I've written SasuxSaku in the summary, and all you get are suspicious NaruXSaku moments.. :-D I was not lying, you know! I'll prove that in the next chapter. Planning to make it a romantic one! :-)_


	8. Chapter 8

It was half past eight in the night when she was finally free of her medic duties and entered the intensive care unit of Konoha Hospital. She opened the door to the observation room where Sasuke was being kept. It was a small room, but with all sorts of advanced medical equipments and monitors required for emergency cases. His bed was in the middle of the room, and adjacent to it was a sturdy little chair. She walked towards the bed and studied the figure lying before her. Sasuke was wearing white hospital clothes. There were wires sticking out from beneath the shirt, connecting his pulse points and chakra nodes to the monitors. There were five wires collecting brain pulses and chakra data from different points on his head. And to top it all, was the green liquid pumping into his chakra system through his arm.

She turned to the monitor showing the cleaning level of his chakra system, and gasped. Something was wrong. It was still in the initial state of cleaning, even after eight hours! She turned to the emergency button and pressed it, for alerting Shizune. Then she hurried back to the monitor and turned a knob. The screen now showed a graph between the foreign chakra remaining and the time elapsed. It could not be! The graph was almost a straight line, indicating that the foreign chakra remained constant somehow.

Sakura stared at Sasuke's still body. What was going on? She had thought that by this time his system would be cleaned of the foreign chakra almost completely..

The door to the room opened and Shizune strode inside. "What's the matter Sakura?" She asked, concerned. Sakura pointed to the monitor. "Take a look, Shizune!"

Shizune took one look and gasped.

The two of them poured over the monitors, trying to figure out just what was happening inside Sasuke's chakra system. After looking through every tiny detail on every monitor that was connected to his chakra system, they could come to only one possible conclusion.

It was Sasuke's own chakra that was being taken out, instead of the foreign one.

"But how can this happen?" Shizune wondered, staring at Sasuke's figure. "His chakra system is supposed to identify his own chakra, and help in the purging process, dammit!"

"I don't know.. It's almost as if his system is trying to protect the foreign chakra." Sakura sighed, sitting down in the chair.

"Maybe we should seal the thing somehow, instead of purging it.." Shizune suggested.

"I had considered it, but that would have to be the last option. Once sealed, he will have to bear this burden for the whole life!" Sakura shook her head.

"But is there any other way?" Shizune mumbled, worried now.

Sakura stared ahead blankly. Nothing came to her head. Shizune sighed and placed her palm on Sakura's shoulder reassuringly. "You are tired, Sakura. Just get some rest, now. We will think about it tomorrow."

Sakura nodded. "I think I will. You go on, Shizune. There is nothing more we can do today."

Shizune wished her good night and left, closing the door after her.

Sakura gazed at Sasuke. His handsome face was still holding an expression of peacefulness. A yawn escaped from her mouth. She was so tired.. Leaning her head against the sturdy chair, she closed her eyes. Sleep came almost instantly.

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly. At first, he had no idea where he was or what day it was. The last thing he remembered was.. the war.. Naruto falling.. that terrible wave of black dead faces.. The memories. Everything that happened came crashing into his mind. But it was as if he had been watching from somewhere else. He closed his eyes again as the feelings of terror and sadness settled down in the form of unbearable pain inside his chest. For a long moment, he lay like that, focusing on that pain that was eating his heart away. He knew there was nothing he could do. And not for the first time in his life, he felt utterly helpless.

He sighed heavily. That was when he noticed the real physical pain. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at his own body. He was wearing white hospital clothes, underneath which he suspected too many ugly injuries were being hidden. He tried moving, but couldn't. Too many wires. Nonsense. He gave up trying to move, and looked around him for the first time. As expected, he was in an observation room. Must be Konoha Hospital. But what he didn't expect was the figure of the pink haired girl at his side, motionless except for her slow regular breathing. Her head was resting on the side of his bed, with her hand supporting it. He couldn't see her face, only the pink hair splashed all over the white sheet.

He stared at her for a moment, surprised. Then his gaze softened. "Sakura?" He called. She started and looked up with bleary red eyes at him, blinked for a moment, and jumped up, knocking her chair down.

"Sasuke-kun! You're awake!" She gasped, grabbing his forehead to check his temperature, then frantically running around the monitors, as if they might blast at any moment.

"Calm down, will you?" Sasuke said, confused at her panic.

"Eh? Oh..Yeah." Sakura's eyes widened as she slowed down and turned to look at him. She looked entirely out of her mind. "Right. Well.. how are you feeling Sasuke-kun?" She asked, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks with embarrassment.

"I'm alright." Sasuke lied as he studied her dishelved figure. Her eyes were red with lack of sleep, and there were dark circles under her eyes, as if she had not slept for days. "You should go home and sleep."

"Uhm.. Yeah.. I know.." She sighed, resigned. "I don't want to leave you like this, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke gazed at her for a moment, then decided to leave it at that. Her presence had a calming effect on him anyway, for a moment he had almost forgotten about those memories.. He grimaced.

"Sasuke-kun.. Is that evil chakra still affecting you? We had blocked your chakra system so that it wouldn't affect your thoughts." Sakura asked, concerned.

"It's not their chakra.. It's their.. memories." Sasuke pressed his lips together into a tight line as he tried to compose himself.

Sakura lowered her eyes a bit in sadness. "I thought it would turn out okay if we cleaned that chakra from your system, but it is as if.." Sakura trailed away thoughtfully, searching for the right word.

"Sakura, don't try that again." Sasuke said, glancing away from her.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura asked, frowning. "You can't use your chakra without doing that!"

"I will do it myself." Sasuke said, almost to himself, clenching his fists.

Sakura was silent for a moment, as if contemplating its risks.

"Alright. But, please be careful.." She said quietly.

Sasuke gulped silently. He knew this was not a good idea, and he did not know how to do it. He just knew that he had to be the one to do it, because only he could understand them. Of course, Naruto had seen them too, but it was not for long, and so he wouldn't remember that much, anyway. Speaking of that baka, he had tried to save him, and got affected himself. Just what that idiot would do. He smirked. If Sakura wasn't there, they would have destroyed Konoha by now. He turned to glance at the girl, now staring at the side of his bed in deep thought.

"Thank you Sakura.. Again." He gave her a grateful smile. The effect those words had upon the girl was beyond any he would have imagined. Sakura stared at him for a moment as if she couldn't believe he had said that. Then slowly, her eyes started to fill with tears, and she began to tremble slightly.

"Sasuke-kun.. You shouldn't thank me.. I.. I'm sorry." She whispered, as a tear fell down her cheeks.

"What for?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Sakura looked away, and bit her quivering lip. "For.. For not understanding you back then. I asked Naruto to give up on you. I told him to forget the promise he made, and for that I told him I loved him. He slapped me on the face." Sasuke's eyes widened. Sakura continued, trying to hid her tears with her shaking hands. "Even then I didn't come to my senses. I thought it would be better for all of us if you just died. And.. I tried to kill you." Tears were falling down her cheeks without interruption now, and she was sobbing bitterly. "It was after the war when Obito told me all those things you had to go through.. about Itachi.. about your clan.. Sasuke-kun.. I'm sorry. I thought I knew everything about you, but it wasn't true.. And in the war.. I was never strong enough to support either of you. I just kept getting in-"

Sasuke grabbed hold of one of her hands tightly. He had enough pain in his chest already. "That's enough Sakura." He hissed. Sakura still avoided looking at him. He tightened his grip on her hand.

"Listen. There was no way you could've known what was happening to me. All the things you did, were justified. Even trying to kill me." He sighed. "Sakura, if anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. You know that very well."

Sakura finally turned her gaze to him, her eyes wide from surprise and puffy from crying.

"I guess Naruto is the only one with a clean conscience." He said wryly, releasing his grip on her.

Sakura gave a tiny nod, wiping her tears away. "Yeah.. He didn't even flinch on any of his decisions, however hard it was for him. He really is a great friend, Sasuke-kun. And to think I used to hate him once!" She laughed slightly.

"Me too." Sasuke said, relieved that her tears had stopped falling. "But I still do, just because he had always been right."

"Heh.. that's not a real reason to be hating anyone, you know.." Sakura said in an admonishing way.

"I know.." Sasuke smirked. "And he's on his way here now."

"Huh? Is he? But I told him to rest!" Sakura glanced at the door, confused. A moment later, the door opened, revealing a very awake Naruto.

"Sakuraa-chaaan!" Naruto called out, grinning like an idiot. "And teme?!"

* * *

_A/N: Umm.. Please review! I feel totally out of track._


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